Monday, 5 October 2015

The Horror at the Museum

Old and Modern Master Watercolours and Drawings from the Personal collection of Vincent Price Aldis Browne Fine Arts USA, 1988 When we hear the name Vincent Price, we immediately think 'master of horror', and recall his great performances in films such as The Fly, The Masque of the Red Death, Theatre of Blood, Dr Phibes, Witchfinder General and many others.

Fewer people know that he was something of a gourmand and was an accomplished cook and food writer.Fewer people still recognise that he was a noted art collector. Well, I didn't, until I recently chanced upon a small catalogue featuring works on paper from his collection. It's all fairly dull stuff I'm afraid, his tastes having been molded in the stuffy surroundings of Yale and the Courtauld Institute where he studied art history, but I thought I'd show a sample of what a 'man of culture' from his generation hung around his Californian (presumably) pseudo-Gothic mansion.Vincent was a generous chap and donated much of his collection to establish his own art museum. If you really want to see more, check it out here: http://vincentpriceartmuseum.org/Personally, I'll stick to his films.